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Hello hello! So happy to be here writing this post, after all the crazy that has been going on around here. As many of you know – I moved! I am now up in Västra Götaland instead of way down south in Skåne…which will be reflected a lot in my latest work. Today I am done with my 2nd painting in the “Leaving Time” collection called “The Ties That Bind”.

It took me awhile to finish her, since she was literally still wet when I packed her up to move here and didn’t have a studio for several weeks :O So, celebrating tonight her completion!

“The Ties That Bind” – 55 x 75 cm – oil on masonite

I thought of this painting over the summer at work one day. I had been trying to find a way to release those who had hurt me in the past, old wounds, old scars… it can be a hard thing for me to personally shrug off and let go of (Taurus moon, what can I say). I had listened to this video about Karmic bonds and ties we create with every person we meet, no matter how significant or not – but when people hurt us and leave our lives… the ties still remain.

Through these ties, with our own sorrow and unresolved anger/grief, we can give these people power. We literally send them our own energy and drain ourselves dry. But one of the most powerful things the person said which really struck home to me was when you really acknowledge this and decide upon cutting this cord tell the person you are sorry. “Sorry”, I thought! What did I have to be sorry for? Well I kept this going, I let it persist and I kept myself karmically attached to this person, which in truth lasts more than a lifetime.

Like the last painting, I added in a bit of astrology. Here on the knife we have the symbol of the North Node. The North Node represents the kinds of experiences that we must work to develop in order to work with our karma, and to grow spiritually. Since we don’t want to carry over karma from this life into the next, we need to learn from the hurts which come to us in this life experience. Not just realize they happened and moved on but really try to get into the essence of why it happened and accept it. It is probably one of the hardest things I have had to learn as of yet but so worth it in the end.

Saturn is the next astrological symbol in this painting. Saturn also deals with hard lessons and karmic relationships. He has been in my natal Sagittarius for almost 2 years and yeah I have felt it. It’s been a constant presence of “Are you really sure you are doing things right? Are you moving on? Are you learning, growing, being who you need to be?”

If you know anything about astrology you know most people really don’t like Saturn being anywhere lol – but really I couldn’t, wouldn’t be the person I am today if it hadn’t been for all his lessons the past few years.

Is this painting deeply personal? Yeah of course. Paintings can really be a window into the soul and a journey shared with others, those make for my favorite in my opinion. But I also feel like this painting shares this message for others too. We all have these karmic relationships and I sympathize deeply with how tough it is to just – release – but it is also one of those great moments in life when you really feel like it has been accomplished. It won’t be done in a day or a night or maybe even 100…but it is a process which grows us as the beautiful spiritual people we are.

So keep shining bright my gorgeous friends! I hope you enjoyed this painting and that it spoke to you as well. Feel free to leave a comment about your own journey below and until then wishing you guys a great weekend <3

Hey guys! Today, a few days after the solar eclipse, I am very happy to be posting my newest painting. This piece is the first in a series I am working on called “Leaving Time”. No, this series isn’t connected to a gallery show, it is a series of paintings I have been wanting to create for some time. I felt giving it a name and a cohesive theme would help give me the focus to bring them to life. So, without further ado here is my painting “Eclipse”.

“Eclipse” – 40 x 55 cm- oil on masonite

Originally this painting was only meant to have 2 figures, the light and the dark. It would appear the dark was being cast out and the light emerged victorious. But after the photo shoot out in the Skåne countryside, I felt differently. Here we have symbolized our negative thought patterns and ideas. That dark voice within us which undermines our actions and motivations in life. It is a choice to leave it behind, but it isn’t always so simple. We can go through a state of limbo and in between as we figure out who we really are without our ego dragging us down.

In the painting it became eventually, it looks as though rather than the dark being cast out, she is more moving upwards into the limbo state. I felt this way quite a bit beginning of the summer as many things were changing (Pluto, the planet of death, rebirth, power and transformation looms above her). It takes a lot of awareness and determination to quiet the dark voice within and begin change.

What comes next, marked by the moon (our emotional centers and reactions) is a state of in between. It is a vulnerable place to be, open to the world. Bringing out what once was hidden but yet somehow not feeling completely there.

And what comes last is the release. Shedding away the layers to become your bright and brilliant whole self. Infused with light and positivity, trusting in your own being and thoughts. True transformation comes from within. The planet which hangs above her is Neptune, which rules over spiritual enlightenment and truest forms of love.

I settled on the name “Eclipse” because of the darkness which can consume before we enter a much brighter fulfilled time in our life. I really enjoyed adding a bit of astrology into this and hope to continue adding little aspects of it in the future pieces of this series.

I hope you all have enjoyed my newest painting! Let me know if it resonates with you in the comments below ^_^ I would love to hear your thoughts and stories.

The original painting is available through me privately if you are interested in adopting her into your home. Feel free to send me an email: contact (a) plantiebee.com

Hi Friends! It’s been awhile I know. I am trying to catch up on all the blog posts, as well as all the art I want to get done this summer. It has been a crazy year being at school, with very little free time to pursue my own projects. But, since this past winter I have been slowly working away on this painting “Divine Feminine”, which was actually originally inspired by female activism. As a mother, as a woman, as a spiritual being – I was called to create this piece.

“Divine Feminine” – 55 x 75 cm – oil on linen

This is a large detailed oil painting which has a lot of symbolism entwined into it. I wanted to show that every woman (and every man as well) has divinity within them. We are powerhouse creators of our destiny which we manifest here on Earth. On the cosmic side I am showing we have all of the universe within us. I also added in a little bit of Shiva symbolism, the moon and river flowing from the goddess’s hair, as Shiva is the God of Creation and Destruction. Something which I felt needed to be included in this piece!

The human side is meant to represent us here on Earth. I believe myself that we all manifest here on this planet to learn lessons, expand as a soul and grow all while having our higher self within us. The bees floating around were meant to symbolize so many things … our colony of souls here on Earth, us being the Queen Bee, powerful and free, as well as our ability to pollinate the planet with joy and light. There is so much I wanted to say within this painting, but I also always encourage you to find what it says to you personally.

I really enjoyed working on this painting and bringing her to life. I was so happy when I could finally call her complete and my first large scale painting of the year was put out publicly. She embodies what I hope all woman remember themselves as being. Powerful creators both here physically as well as internally. For a long time there has been a notion to almost control a woman’s body and all the power she has within it. But we are divine beings within ourselves. The power we have is something we own completely. Never forget that.

Thanks for taking the time to read and look through all the pictures! Such a detailed painting is difficult to appreciate from afar on a computer screen so I hope you enjoyed the close ups. Let me know what you think about the divinity within all of us and what this painting says to you! I would love to hear!

This lady is available to a new home as well! <3 So if you are interested in her, feel free to send me an email: contact(a)plantiebee.com

Hey guys – as many of you know in January I started at the Swedish Academy of Realist Art. It is a private school located in the artistic Osterlen town of Simrishamn run by Hans-Peter Szameit and Sanna Tomac. I will admit, it was such a whirlwind getting accepted into the school only weeks before term started – I walked in on the first day a blank canvas, not sure what to expect.

So, I thought I would share with you my experience so far – going on 3 months at the school! I went in with prior artistic experience, I had been completely self taught but working professionally within the industry. Within the first few days we were introduced to our first project – Bargues. Oh Bargues….what a thing. Charles Bargue was an amazing oil painter who lived and worked in the 1800s. Art academies in his day were unhappy with the results students were producing and blamed the models 😛 They asked Mr. Bargue to create a series of lithographs for the students to copy … and we are still copying them to this day.

Here is the 1st years workspace – these are our 2nd Bargues which took around a month to complete. I will be honest with you – Bargues are not for the faint of heart! There have been breakdowns, a few tears and a couple of angry fits since beginning these. They need to not just be copied to a good likeness, they need to be copied down to a fraction of a milimeter. This is alot harder than one may think and it can be a frustrating process. BUT – it does have a purpose. They train the eyes very well to notice subtle differences. Curves, relations, proportions and even soft rendering – these are all things you slowly notice better and better after working on them.

Another Bargue project are his Figure drawings. An example of one is pictured above. In order to be able to go into the model room to draw a live nude model (which typically students do Monday to Thursday every morning) you first must copy 15 of these bad boys. 5 perfectly sized, 5 from afar and 5 enlargened. These copies aren’t as tough, you just need to get the basic proportions and gesture of the figure. After completing my 15 this past week I was surprised when joining the figure workshop that my figure drawing was VASTLY improved. Truly, I could see relationships and proportions so much easier and clearer. It took me a little over a month to complete them all but it was well worth it.

We also have done several other various projects – Fridays are usually reserved for portraits, or in our case skulls. In order to be able to draw portraits we first must pass several Skull copy tests. But also we have done gesture model drawing, outside sketching, business lectures, anatomy workshops and more. It’s a lot of information, a lot of knowledge and all of it so valuable in its own way.

One thing which I think is very special about the school is its teachers. We have several young teachers who actually work within the pop surrealism and magical realism styles. I mean, what are the chances?! For example Miles Johnston , James Cowper and Theodora Capat – all very talented and skilled artists who work in the same circle as I have.

So what’s my general impression then of the school and what it is like attending an art academy? It is very hard work first and foremost. These are very hardworking students who need to push boundaries everyday to reach the level of perfection asked of them at the school. But the results are pretty clear. It is a difficult method to undertake and the faculty appreciate that (which is why they reward us with fun breaks and also offer tons of after school activities for students) but they know that what comes out of it is a real visual understanding of the world around us.

I feel so much more confident with my artistic expression, with trusting my sight and vision and with mediums I previously disliked (graphite and now charcoal!). And that is after only 3 months of attending the school. It is a warm welcoming place, primarily full of vegetarians like myself, lots of interesting discussions and various styles across the board. I would recommend it to anyone who really wants to become a better technically skilled artist. I emphasize this because I had looked into several Bachelor of Fine Arts programs around Sweden beforehand but they were so generalized I can’t imagine actually getting close to the education I am getting now. They putter around with photography, sculpture, and maybe painting for 2 weeks a year… so you may know several things a little but at this school you will know drawing and painting as an expert. I don’t doubt it.

So there you have it. It is a hardworking but wonderfully educational fine art school down on the coast of Sweden. It is actually an international school so all instruction is in English – if you are interested in applying do so! There are students from all over attending, so it’s a real cool mish mash of a place.

Hope you guys are having a wonderful weekend, I am going to get on to some personal projects now (woo!) and hey leave me any comments or questions below! I’d be happy to answer or asked the wonderful headmistress of the school if I don’t know ^_^ <3

Ah, things go so fast! I meant to post this ages ago but this project and the show swept me up and away so I am a bit behind. As many of you know I was the curator of a show hosted by Haven Gallery which opened on October 29th 2016! This show was special as it supported the wonderful organization Mission Blue. Mission Blue creates “Hope Spots” in our oceans, which act like nature reserves, protecting and preserving the fragile ecosystems within. For over a year now I have been working on bringing this show to life and the opening was a success! Half the originals already have new homes, including my own which you can see here:

“Hope” – 30 x 40 cm – oil on linen

When I watched the documentary “Mission Blue” last summer I was deeply moved. I couldn’t believe the destruction mankind has inflicted upon our planet and our oceans. At the same time I felt so small and powerless. How could I change what has been done? I am not rich, I don’t have a fortune to spend on saving the planet…but then I thought I do have my paintbrush. I do have a voice through me, through my art. Why couldn’t I make a difference using the tools I do have? So that’s exactly what I set out to do.

Thank you to everyone for all the amazing support while putting this show together and helping it make it a success. Of all the times on our planet when we need to be so super conscientious of our environment and how we are treating it, it is now. We are on the brink. A little shove and it is basically all over. Let’s stop that from happening. This is such a loving, generous and beautiful home we have. Let’s take care of it. We do have the power, same as I did with my art, use YOUR talents to bring about change.

Hi friends 🙂 I know, it has been awhile since I wrote a blog post. After Gabe was born in May art has been slower than usual and this painting (which I started in June) has consumed most of my time. I am so happy it is done, but in many ways I am also… saddened in a way. It has been a journey. I documented a journey in this painting and it was a journey in and amongst itself to paint. Which is why I feel the need to really talk about what this piece of work means to me.

“1,000 Morsels of Hope” – 55 x 75 cm – oil on linen

Last year in 2015 my life changed abruptly. I won’t get into the gritty details here but we suffered a sudden and swift loss within our family. It set off a chain reaction of events which I honestly didn’t feel like I came out of until after the birth of my son this past spring. It was like that one event, which we all went through, created in turn a thousand other events which kept altering our lives until I couldn’t even recognize a lot of the world around me. Everything had changed.

So this one day, it was snowing and I was having a conversation with a man about my art and where I was to go – I thought of this concept. Down here in the south of Sweden, in the spring, the whole countryside comes alive with the color yellow. I am surrounded by farm fields here where I live and come May the rapeseed flowers come into bloom – and the world becomes a sea of brilliant cadmium flowers. It is mesmerizing. I wanted to capture things like this in my surrounding area which have left a mark on me.

For a long time I always thought emotive paintings like this was for me to reach out and let others know they weren’t alone in their loneliness or heartache. I learned something very deep while painting this piece of work. Every flower, every butterfly, every moment I would think and I would hear and I would understand. It wasn’t my own suffering going out and teaching others – I was learning from the suffering which everyone else around me. This human condition of loss and of hope – it was teaching ME that I wasn’t alone. And even though I could feel so lost at times – others had felt that and worse. In some ways I began to feel that until you have felt just as sad as I did in that moment, you’d never really understand or appreciate life for what it is. And there is a connection to others that comes from that emotion that stays with you.

“1,000 Morsels of Hope” is my painting of wandering through life when things have gotten very dark and yet I kept hope within me, all around, that things could change at any moment. The butterflies flitting to and fro were in a sense the “truth bombs” there to remind myself that some things are very unchangeable. But there is a future beyond that – a bright new beginning.

As many of you know, I love astrology. When this moment of loss which set off the chain reaction happened it was eclipse season – in my sign right before my birthday. I didn’t realize just how impacting that would be. Even more so was the fact that I had my Saturn Return and since Saturn was retrograde it lasted for months and months… teaching me lessons and harsh realities every step of the way. Which is why I added that fateful planet into this work.

What a lesson, what a connection. I started off feeling so disconnected from everything and everyone. I felt like the universe was against me and had no love left for me. But I ended up feeling like I was surrounded by angels and beings guiding me – letting me know that this truly is a part of my journey and my experience here on earth. I am left feeling more connected to my fellow man more than ever. So please, view this painting for what it is for you. Let your own story melt into it. For we all have one. Be proud of it and cherish it because it really does make you who you are. Let it connect you to everyone else around you who has felt lost and loss. We are all here together in our little stories of tragedy and hope and never truly alone.

Happy spring everyone 🙂 Well… I still feel like I am waiting for proper spring to roll in. It hints and teases – but the wind down here in Skåne makes it feel more like February rather than nearing May! As many of you know, I was commissioned by the town of Skurup (where I live) to create a painting. In the concept sketch I created I tried to add in some of the core elements I felt were important to the town – a local landmark, an earthy farm feeling and of course the classic white goose – which is a symbol used all over Skurup.

“Den Underbara Resan” – 45 x 65 cm – oil on linen

So why is the white goose so important? You’ll find homages to it just about everywhere you go, from statues to stickers and now of course my own artwork! The reason behind it is the story “Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige” (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils) which was written by female author Selma Lagerlöf in the early 20th century. The story begins in the outskirts of Skurup, following a bratty young child who gets turned elf-sized and flies around all of Sweden on the back of a domestic white goose, who wishes to be free and wild.

If you happen to be a newsletter subscriber you will have seen some behind the scenes pictures of Ulrika (my model) and I over at Zimmerman’s Backe taking the reference shots! Zimmerman’s Backe is a hill right on the edge of town with a big beautiful tree sitting on top. It is surrounded by forest and is a popular place to go for a stroll. I have always loved this particular location – it even inspired my painting “The Dreamer” from my solo show in 2015. So it seemed natural to make it the setting of this particular piece.

All together it creates the piece you see above. I wanted to capture the dry earthy feeling of a farming town in my own style and voice. “Den Underbara Resa” will hang in the council building in Skurup – so if you happen to be traveling around Skåne feel free to go check it out in person! Otherwise – I will be offering large A3 sized limited edition prints of this painting on my Etsy shop! I will only make 50 of these – so if you’d like to order your own follow the link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/290910701/limited-edition-girl-with-white-goose-by

Hope you all like my latest painting! I really loved creating it and hope to do many similar works in the future <3

Hello hello everyone! I am happy to finally share with you guys my Red Riding Hood piece, which I made for the Bad Apple Artist Collective show opening tonight in Portugal! Exciting 🙂 Fellow BA member June Leeloo will actually be there in person, so I am expecting some nice photos of the opening to start circulating the web tomorrow! The show is called “Perrault’s Fairy Tales” – Perrault being the French writer, living a century or so before the Brother Grimm’s time (I believe). Red Riding Hood was one of those stories and I used that as inspiration for my painting.

“Into the Woods We Go” – oil on canvas board – 24 x 33 cm

I took the reference photos for this painting, gosh it feels like forever ago, in January when we really did have snow on the ground here in Sweden. I think it was -9 degrees celcius at the time and I made Ulrika run around the garden in a cape haha… it was fun though 😉 The sun was setting early, as it does in winter, and the light through the bamboo over the snow was just gorgeous and really inspired the painting.

It was a serious challenge to recreate lol but well worth it in the end. It created the eerie magical atmosphere I wanted for my fairy tale painting ^_^ I didn’t however want to add the wolf in here… I just imagined him lurking somewhere back in the foliage, plotting his next move hehe.

You can also purchase “Into the Woods We Go” directly from the website 🙂 I think in her little silver frame she would be a lovely addition to anyone’s wall <3

Thanks so much for having a look and I hope you like my latest painting! Only 3 weeks until my due date now so I am racing to the finish line with all my other projects – including one more gallery show and a special commission I look forward to sharing with you soon. Have a great weekend everyone!

Hey friends 🙂 Wow officially in April, I can’t believe how fast the year has gone by. I have 2 shows opening this month, the first of which is at Aunia Kahn’s gallery Alexi Era! The theme for this show was “Gypsy” – which immediately brings to mind bold reds, golds, prints, flowers and an old world feeling.

“Homebound” – 24 x 33 cm – oil on canvas board

I put together a big folder full of gypsy pics, including beautiful photos of the Romanian countryside (such a pretty place!) and decided I wanted this traveling woman to be in her homeland, back to her roots.

Biggest challenge of this piece was actually her face lol – which is usually my favorite part of any painting. I must’ve painted and repainted her face 3 or 4 times. I think what happened was when I transferred the sketch onto the board I didn’t do it properly so the proportions were all off without me realizing it *face palm*. She got there in the end 😉

I also added some bees in behind her, with a bit of a magical glow. I wanted it to be like the escort back to her own land. A connection or a click and it all comes to life when you go back to your roots and your own soil. As someone who has lived abroad for 10 years, it is a feeling I can relate to. Not that magical bees fly around when I go back home lol (that would be awesome) but it is like walking into a place where part of your heart/being still remains.

“Gypsy” opens on April 2nd at Alexi Era Gallery in Illinois! She is framed in gold and ready to hang, so if you are interested in giving this lovely lady a forever home, feel free to write to: info@alexieragallery.com

And if you happen to be in Mascoutah, IL – be sure to go check out the show! The work I have seen looks stunning ^_^

Hey everyone – my latest painting opens at Gallery 1988 today for their new show “3o Years Later”. In true Gallery 1988 style – artists were asked to make a piece inspired by movies created 30 years ago in 1986. Considering I was born late 1987 – it kinda makes me feel a bit old lol! The movie Labyrinth however did in fact come out in 1986 and therefore was my inspiration for this show. It was a tough call between that and Highlander… but I think I made the right choice in the end 😉

“I Move the Stars for No One” – 24 x 33 cm – oil on canvas panel

I’ll tell you guys a secret though, I hadn’t actually watched the movie until recently. You’ll laugh at me but I have this semi-fear of those weird rubbery robot/puppets they used back in the 80s (like in Neverending Story). They really creeped me out as a kid so I avoided most of them lol! Anyway… judgement time over. My son and I watched Labyrinth together and we both really enjoyed it, creepy puppet things aside.

I wanted to capture a bit of the magic from the movie in my own painting, but at the same time keep it soft and simple. It just so happened to go perfectly with the title in the end.

Here she is all dolled up in her silver frame! Show opens today, March 25th in Los Angeles – so if you are around be sure to go check it out 😀 Should be a lot of awesome art there inspired by a whole year of awesome movies.

If you are a lover of Labyrinth and want to adopt this lady for yourself – get in touch with the lovely people at Gallery 1988 🙂 gallery1988west@gmail.com

She is $695 including the silver frame – and I do hope to come out with some prints on my Etsy shop once the original has sold so keep your eye out! If you’d like to be the first to know about print releases like this – sign up for my monthly newsletter: http://eepurl.com/rVxnv 🙂 My lovely newsletter crew get to know about everything first so it is the place to be!

Have a fabulous Easter weekend everyone and I will speak to you all soon! <3